Buddhist Practices

• The end of the darkness of ignorance is represented by candles and lights which are offered.
• Puja is an example of inner devotion
• Puja is seen as the way to prepare for the path to enlightenment
• In Theravada Buddhism, the people's puja is focused on gaining merit and a personal benefit from it
• In Mahayana Buddhism, the focus is more on the merit of other people and asking Buddha's to keep teaching for the good of the world
• Puja can be expressed through body, speech, and mind. It is a giving in order to help others (Mahayana) and ourselves (Theravada)
• The Buddha recommended his followers to make a pilgrimage to Bodh Gaya, the direct descendant of the original Bodhi tree
• Ceremonies are meant to provide a blessing, asking Buddha often for repentance
• Mala beads keep count while chanting or silently repeating a mantra. They remind people that it's possible to break the cycle of birth and death.
• Vipassana meditation is an insight into the true nature of our reality
• In the Theravada tradition, Vipassana meditation is an insight into the Three Marks of Existence: impermanence, suffering, and the realisation of non-self. (Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta)
• Samatha is concentration - performed in order to calm the mind
• Meditation is based on the experience of Buddha
• Some Buddhists use a meditation-object to concentrate on
• Mindfulness breathing is found in Tibetan and Theravada. Buddha taught people to sit beneath a tree and notice the breath, which helps in training the mind to be sensitive and focused
• Chanting is the traditional means of preparing the individual's mind for meditation.